Askew roll mechanism for carton blank apparatus



June 29, 1965 P. ZERNOV ETAL ASKEW ROLL MECHANISM FOR CARTON BLANK APPARATUS Filed Feb. 4, 1963 2 SheetsShee1-. 1

INVENTORY 1 57-52 Zs/e/va 26mph 4, Man;

June 29, 1965 P. ZERNOV ETAL ASKEW ROLL MECHANISM FOR CARTON BLANK APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 4, 1963 United States Patent 3,191,929 ASKEW ROLL M'EQHANISM FUR CARTGN BLANK APPARATUS Peter Zernov, Wauwatosa, and Ralph A. Maas, Milwaukee, W is., assignors to Zerand Corporation, Menomonee Falls, Wis, a corporation of Wisconsin.

Filed Feb. 4, 1963, Ser. No. 256,021

4 Claims. (Cl. 27171) The present invention relates generallyto carton blank forming apparatus and more particularly to an improved askew roll mechanism 'for'lat erally separating multiple blanks from each other as they are continuously fed to a delivery unit.

The present invention is in the nature of an improvement'over prior art askew rolls such as found in U.S. Patent No. 2,942,765, issued on June 28, 1960, wherein the individual askew rolls engage the blanks and are driven by a single lowerdrive roller extending entirely and beneath the blanks. The rubber covered askew rolls are thus driven by the drive roller and are adjustable at various angles relative thereto to exert a lateral thrust on a pair of blanks and thereby separate them laterally into individual blanks.

These askew rolls are also adjustable laterally on the blank making apparatus to provide for various widths and/r numbers of blanks. These rolls are furthermore individually adjustable relative to their nipping pressure with the blanks.

The prior art devices have proved to be satisfactory, but they also have certain shortcomings, such as for example, the lack of convenient, quick and fine adjustment, and without thenecessity of wrenches or other tools to effect such adjustments. As the apparatus with which the invention is used operates at veryhigh speeds, these adjustments must be made immediately upon notice of any malfunction, such as the separation and delivery of blanks at an improper angle or direction. These adjustments are often. delicate and sometimes must be made by inexperienced operators. 1

.Accordingly, the present invention provides an improvedaskew rollrnechanism which overcomes the above mentioned shortcomings. More particularly, the mechanism provided by the present invention can be quickly and very accurately adjusted, both'as to the lateral position of the mechanismon the machine and more importantly, as to the angular relationship or amount of skew of the rolls which effect blank separation.

Another more specific aspect of the present invention relates to an improved means for quickly disengaging all rolls from said blanks and holding them out of engagement, or alternatively, causing them to be in predetermined nipping pressure with the blanks.

These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will appear hereinafter as this disclosure 7 progresses, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a fragmentary plan view of carton blank making apparatus which embodies the present invention, certain parts shown as being broken away or in section;

FIGURE 2 is a side elevational view of the arrangement shown in FIGURE 1, certain parts being in sec- .tion and broken away;

FIGURE 3 is an elevational view, having certain parts I broken away or in section and taken generally along line 33 in FIGURE 1, but on an enlarged scale;

FIGURE 4 is a view taken along line 4-4 in FIGURE 3, certain parts being shown in section or broken away; and

FIGURE 5 is a side elevational view taken along line 5-5 in FIGURE 1, but on an enlarged scale.

3,191,929 Patented June 2i), 1965 Referring in greater detail to the drawings, the apparatus includes a support frame F in which is rotatably mounted a lower roll R and over which roll the blanks B pass. This roll may be driven in any conventional manner (not shown) and is arranged transversely to the general direction of travel of the blanks.

A plurality of upper and relatively narrow rollers 1 are adjustably carried, by means to be described, on a support bar 10 and these rollers cooperate with the lower roll R and are driven by the periphery thereof to advance the blanks therebetween.

The support bar It) is mounted in the side walls 11 and 12 of the support frame F for oscillation between a roller This rigid bar" is of considerable thickness so as not toflex when in use, and is preferably of round cross section, although other cross sectional shapes may be used. A keyway 13 is milled along the length of the bar, and the bar is located above and in parallelism with the long, power driven, lower roll R. J

At one end, the bar extends through one side wall of the frame and has a projection 15 fixed thereto by its collar portion 'ldand pin 17 extending therethrough. A stop pin 18 is located at one side of the projection and is fixed to the side wall. pin engages the projection and urges the bar 16 to rotate to the above-mentioned roller disengaged position. On the other side of the projection 15, and mounted on-the frame, is located a rotary cam member 20 having a pair of flatv surfaces 20a and 23b. Amanually operated lever 21 is fixed to the cam member for oscillating'the latter between the roller engaging position in which surface 20a abuts against the projection, or a roller disengaged position when the surface 291) abuts against the projection and then spring19 urges the bar to the said roller inoperative position.

In this manner, the manually operated lever can instantly and positively bring all of the rollers into predetermined nipping pressure with the lower power driven roll and the flat surface 20a locks the rollers in this exact nipping engagement. 7

Thus a'quick and positive means is provided for throwing all rollers out of nipping engagement with roll R. The lever 21 loads the rollers against the blanks and against the cushioning effect of the spring.

The rollers 1 are adjustably supported on the bar 10 as follows.

A housing H is provided for each upper roller and has an opening 25 therethrough by means of which it is slipped over the bar and is slidably therealong. An adjusting knob member 26 is threadably engaged in the housing and has a block 27 on its inner end and which block fits snugly but slidably in the keyway 13. In this manner the housing is prevented from rotating on and relative to the bar 10, but can be tightly clamped thereto by the hand screw 26 in any adjusted position along the i and accidental movement along the bar.

The roller 1 is mounted for vertical adjustment relative to the housing H as follows. The roller is mounted in the lower end of post 30 which extends through the housing and has an adjusting knob 32 threadably engaged on its upper end. A spring 33 is located in the counterbore 34 of the housing, around the post, and acts between 'the housing and the bracket portion 35 of the post to urge the roller downwardly in respect to the housing to an extent determinedby the position of knob 32 on the upper threaded end of the post. Thus the roller is spring A spring 1% mounted over this I biased against the blanks and the spring acts as a cushion to permit slight upward give for the roller until the bracket portion 35 bottoms on the lower end of the housing.

The above mentioned vertical adjustment provides for wear of the roller, or for variation in manufacturing tolerances of the parts, and insures proper nipping pressure of the rollers. The post fits snugly but slidably through the housing and cannot tip relative thereto.

The roller is angularly adjusted, or skewed, in respect to the direction of travel of the blanks, by a positive and accurate adjustment, as follows. A pinion gear 40 is slidaoly mounted on the upper end of the post but is prevented from rotating relative thereto by the key 41 in the keyway 42. An adjustable member 43 is rotatably mounted in the bracket portion 44 of the housing and has a worm gear portion 45 which is in constant mesh with the pinion. The adjustable member 43 extends from the housing and has a hand knob 46 fixed thereto by means of which the post, and the roller carried thereby, are angularly adjusted.

This Worm and slidable pinion connection permits immediate, positive and fine angular adjustment of the roller in either direction, with one hand of the operator and without special tools. The adjustment can also be made without danger of blank damage or improper parting thereof.

Various modes of carrying out the invention are contemplated as being Within the scope of the following claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which is regarded as the invention.

We claim:

1. In a carton blank forming apparatus for handling multiple blanks cut from a section of a web of stock, a support frame, a lower power driven roll mounted in said frame and over which said blanks pass, a plurality of upper relatively narrow rollers cooperating with said lower roll and driven by the periphery thereof to advance said blanks therebetween, a support bar mounted in said frame above said roll and in parallelism therewith, a housing for each upper roller and having an opening therethrough by means of which it is slidably mounted on and along said bar, means for preventing rotation of said housing about a horizontal axis relative to said bar, second means for clamping said housing to said bar, a post extending generally vertically through said housing and having a lower end in which said roller is mounted, means for vertically adjusting said post in said housing, a pinion gear slidably mounted on said post, said pinion gear and post being rotatable together as a unit in said housing, and an adjustable member rotatably mounted in said housing and including a worm gear portion in constant engagement with said pinion gear for rotating the latter and consequently changing the angle of said roller in respect to the direction of travel of said blanks.

2. Apparatus as defined in claim 1 including projection means fixed to said bar adjacent one end thereof,

spring means on said frame and engageable with said rojection means for urging said bar to rotate in one direction to thereby cause disengagment of said rolls with said blanks, and manually operated cam means mounted on said frame and engageable with said projection means for urging said bar to rotate in the other direction to cause roller engagement with said blanks.

3. In a carton blank forming apparatus for handling multiple blanks cut from a section of a web of stock, a support frame, a lower power driven roll mounted in said frame and over which said blanks pass, a plurality of upper relatively narrow rollers cooperating with said lower roll and driven by the periphery thereof to advance said blanks therebetween, a support bar mounted in said frame above said roll and in parallelism therewith, said bar having a keyway along its length, a housing for each upper roller and having an opening therethrough by means of which it is slidably mounted on and along said bar, means for preventing rotation of said housing relative to said bar, means for clamping said housing to said bar including a block slidable in said keyway to prevent rotation of said housing relative to said bar regardless of the axial position of said housing along said bar, a post extending generally vertically through said housing and having a lower end in which said roller is mounted, means for vertically adjusting said post in said housing, a pinion gear slidably mounted on said post, said pinion gear and post being rotatable together as a unit in said housing, an adjustable member rotatably mounted in said housing and including a worm gear portion in constant engagement with said pinion gear, and a hand knob on said member for rotating the latter and consequently changing the angle of said roller in respect to the direction of travel of said blanks.

4. Apparatus as defined in claim 3 including projec tion means fixed to said bar adjacent one end thereof, spring means on said frame and engageabie with said projection means for urging said'bar to rotate in one direction to thereby cause disengagement of said rolls with said blanks, and manually operated cam means mounted on said frame and engageable with said projection means for urging said bar to rotate in the other direction to cause roller engagement with said blanks.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS ROBERT B. REEVES, Primary Examiner.

RAPHAEL M. LUPO, Examiner. 

1. IN A CARTON BLANK FORMING APPARATUS FOR HANDLING MULTIPLE BLANKS CUT FROM A SECTION OF A WEB OF STOCK, A SUPPORT FRAME, A LOWER POWER DRIVEN ROLL MOUNTED IN SAID FRAME AND OVER WHICH SAID BLANKS PASS, A PLURALITY OF UPPER RELATIVELY NARROW ROLLERS COOPERATING WITH SAID LOWER ROLL AND DRIVEN BY THE PERIPHERY THEREOF TO ADVANCE SAID BLANKS THEREBETWEEN, A SUPPORT BAR MOUNTED IN SAID FRAME ABOVE SAID ROLL AND IN PARALLELISM THEREWITH, A HOUSING FOR EACH UPPER ROLLER AND HAVING AN OPENING THERETHROUGH BY MEANS OF WHICH IT IS SLIDABLY MOUNTED ON AND ALONG SAID BAR, MEANS FOR PREVENTING ROTATION OF SAID HOUSING ABOUT A HORIZONTAL AXIS RELATIVE TO SAID BAR, 